Thicker Than Blood
by Soul of Antauri
Summary: Rewrite to 'Bleeding Darkness'. It's painful, cutting myself, but it proves I'm alive. Kouji doesn't know, but it's only a matter of time. And then, the tragedy will begin.


**At long last! My rewrite to ****Bleeding Darkness**** has arrived!**

**Note: I don't know anything about Japanese school, so I'm just going to Americanize that part of my story.**

**-**

_Two months ago, I fell down the stairs and ended up in the Digital World. It was there I became Duskmon, Cherubimon's right-hand man. I fought. I conquered. I killed. However, I wanted to kill my younger brother, Kouji, the most. The feeling of hate overwhelmed me. Killing my twin was the only thought through my head, even when I knew we were brothers._

_I thank God that Kouji - the same person I wanted to kill with every fiber of my being - saved me from the hell within my head. He purified me, made me dark, but not evil. He allowed me to think for myself. I will never be able to thank him enough for rescuing me. Even when I was in the hospital with no heart rate, he was there and saved me from the empty darkness that surrounded me._

_Kouji purified me and I thought nothing would ever separate us again…_

…_Or so I had thought._

_-__Kouji POV__-_

Why am I here again?

Right, I need to get a good education so I can get a scholarship and go to a good collage and get a good career. I prefer to remain a maverick. I don't like it when people tell me what to do. School is the worst place for me. It's boring, especially this math class.

"Kouji, tell me what the answer is to this question." I looked up slightly to look at the question my sensei was telling me to answer.

_If x is 2 times greater than y and y is 9, what is x?_

What kind of a question is that?

"Eighteen," I replied. Sensei nodded and went back to the lesson. That's exactly what I was talking about. This lesson is so easy, it's almost an insult. Sensei needs to get it through that think of hers that we are smarter than she thinks. Of course, I would never say that.

_RING!_

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Thank God.

"All right class, do pages eighty-four and eighty-five for homework and have a good weekend!" Sensei said. Well, at least her homework's easy.

I walked out of the classroom to go my locker and then go to lunch, the only 'class' that I actually look forward to. I swapped my math book for my history book and closed the door, locking it into place.

"Hey Kouji."

I spun around to meet the biggest pain in the ass known to man, who just happens to be my best friend.

"Hey Takuya, what are you doing here? You always run to the cafeteria with Junpei and stuff yourself with whatever slop the school is serving," I said. I started walking and he kept in accord with me.

"Hey, the food isn't so bad! Besides, Junpei got a cold and didn't come to school today," Takuya replied. That caught my attention.

"Will he be okay enough to hang out with us tomorrow?" I asked, Takuya nodded.

"Yeah, he said he would never miss that for the world. Then he started coughing like crazy, but tried to convince me he was okay," he replied, grinning slightly. I smirked and the two of us went into the cafeteria. Now, I love lunch itself. Being able to hang out with my friends and all that, but the cafeteria is just plain irritating for me. People believe that they need to scream in order to be heard by a person sitting right across from them. Thankfully, my friends and I sit in the corner, virtually the quietest place in the cafeteria. Izumi was already at the table with her bento box and I saw Tomoki in the lunch line, which Takuya smoothly cut into. I sat down at the table in the chair across from Izumi.

"Hi, Kouji," she greeted me with a smile. I grinned back.

"Hey," I replied, then looked around a little. "Where's Kouichi?"

Izumi shrugged. "He said he was going to the bathroom, and that was a while ago. He didn't look that well."

"I hope he didn't catch whatever Junpei has," I muttered.

"I'm sure he's fine! He didn't seem green in the face or anything," Izumi tried her best to comfort me, and I guess it worked. I took out my own bento box and chopsticks and started eating. What's taking him so long?

"Hey, where's Kouichi?"

Takuya and Tomoki arrived at the table when that thought went through my head. They each had a plate of "Mystery Meat" on their trays.

"He's in the bathroom," Izumi replied.

"But this is way too long," I interjected, standing up. "I'm going to see what's taking him. Be right back." I walked to the bathroom and went inside. The bathrooms at school aren't that great. There's toilet paper all over the place with water on the floor. There's some graffiti, but most of it has been painted over. It was really quiet, much the opposite of the cafeteria not two feet away from the door. One of the stalls opened to reveal Kouichi, whose hand was over his mouth. He looked bad.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked him. He jumped when he heard my voice and relax when he realized it was me,

"Don't sneak up on people like that," Kouichi said, half scolding, half joking. Even his voice was rough.

"Are you okay?" I repeated. He nodded and went over to the sink to wash his hands. "Are you sure? You were in here a long time." He grimaced.

"I threw up. I think I caught Junpei's cold," he said and I cursed inwardly. Kouichi cupped he hands over the sink and brought it to his mouth to rinse, then spat out.

"You need to go to the nurse," I said. He shook his head.

"I want to see how I hold up before I go. I don't feel too bad," he insisted.

"That is a lie, Kouichi," I argued. "There's no way you'll be able to last the rest the last of the day."

He sighed. "Fine, I'll go to the nurse. Right after lunch," he promised me. I narrowed my eyes, but I didn't continue bickering. This was probably the best deal I would get. I walked out the bathroom with my twin behind me. When we got to the table, I saw Takuya about to steal a piece of my food.

"Hey, Takuya Kanabara, if you dare touch my food, I'll put you in a headlock," I called over to him, not caring if the students from the other tables heard me. Takuya chuckled and pulled his hand away and mock pouted. Then he noticed who was behind me.

"Hey, Kouichi, we missed you. Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Kouichi replied, sitting down in the seat next to mine.

'_Bullcrap,'_ I thought, then said aloud, "I found him in the bathroom after he threw up." This caused concerned looks from the others and a wince from Kouichi. Said person had his head and shifted his eyes to the side. The others started to make a fuss.

"Kouichi, are you okay?"

"You need to go to the nurse."

"Do you still feel sick?"

Kouichi looked at all of us sheepishly. "I think I caught Junpei's cold. I'll go to the nurse after lunch," he promised. "Can we please drop this?"

Everyone was silent, then they nodded. I was upset at my brother's stubbornness, but I nodded as well. Kouichi visibly relaxed and murmured a "thanks". The tension left as Takuya brought up a new subject on how our history teacher must be trying to kill us with the hard tests she gives us and the amount of homework she assigns. We all laughed at his drama.

A bell rang, signaling lunch was over. We threw out our trash and said goodbye, going to our next class. I walked with Kouichi to the nurse. Now before you start saying how overprotective I am of him, it was _his_ request. I knew I was going to be late for my next class, but since Kouichi was involved, I didn't really give a damn. The halls were silent and so were we. It was a comfortable silence. When we got in front of the nurse's office, I turned to Kouichi.

"Get some rest, bro, okay?" I asked him. He smiled in return.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll try to make it tomorrow," Kouichi said and walked inside, leaving me in the middle of the hall alone.

_-Kouichi POV-_

"Ah, Kouichi, what can I do for you?" asked the nurse, Ms. Sato. The nurse's was empty today. There was two double beds by the wall and a cabinet with a glass

"Um, I think I'm sick," I replied stupidly. Ms. Sato raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Why's that?" she asked me.

"I threw up and my stomach feels like it's twisted," I said. She became concerned and motioned me to get closer. When I walked over, she put her hand on my forehead. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"No fever," she murmured. She went through her drawers and took out a blood pressure monitor. "I need you to roll up your sleeves so I can check your blood pressure." I hesitated, but slowly pull up my sleeve to my right arm. Ms. Sato went and grabbed my arm, forcing my hand to be palm up. I jerked away, leaving the nurse in surprise.

"Kouichi, this won't hurt you," she tried to reason with me. I just shook my head and pulled my sleeve down.

"Can I go home please? I really don't feel good," I said quickly and steadfastly. Ms. Sato was taken aback.

"Yes, just let me write you a pass and you can be on your way," she said hesitantly. I nodded and she took out a notepad, wrote down something, and handed it to me. "I want you to take this to your mother. She needs to make sure this doesn't get worse, okay?" I nodded in response.

"Thanks," I said and walked out of the nurse's office and into the hall.

The silence was almost eerie and my brain repeated what had happened. I never thought Mr. Sato would want to take my blood pressure. I rolled up my sleeve to show seven very visible scars on my wrist, each one pointing down. Those seven marks.

They are the only things to keep me from Hell.

-

**So, what do you think? Is it good enough to continue?**


End file.
